


The Other Side

by Ragnar_the_Red



Series: Dragon Prince Extras and Shorts [3]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Anti-Racism, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Guilt, Post S3, Pre S4, Rayllum, anti-nationalism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:28:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24690799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ragnar_the_Red/pseuds/Ragnar_the_Red
Summary: Post S3, before S4. A few days before the graphic novel that we saw sample pages from the other day.While staying in Katolis with Callum and Ezran, Rayla reflects on Elven-Human relations and the generational lies about humans passed down by her own people.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Series: Dragon Prince Extras and Shorts [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1809667
Comments: 7
Kudos: 76





	The Other Side

**Author's Note:**

> An angst fic that turns fluffy at the end, with a good helping of Rayllum.
> 
> The end notes get pretty heavy and political, so if you don't want to deal with that right now, go ahead and skip it. Hope you enjoy this story, and the rest of your morning/day/night.

Rayla sat up from her bed with a gasp, face drenched by a cold sweat. _Another nightmare._ She looked over at Callum's bed. He was still asleep, clutching onto a pillow like it was actually her. Though he was heavy sleeper, her nightmares were loud enough to wake even him up.

Not this time. She was thankful for it, though. Callum was too good to her; every time she woke him up, he would stay awake until she fell back asleep. Rayla didn't like him sacrificing his sleep for her sake. Especially when the dream was different from the usual one.

 _"You smell of DEATH_ , _"_ she recalled Sol Regem saying. In the nightmare, she wasn't fast enough. The blind dragon killed Callum, and his fire ended up torching Zym too. _She fell to her knees, as the breath was ripped from her body. Her limbs went limp, completely powerless. There was nothing left of Callum or Zym, but ashes. Finally, her breath returned, shuddering and shallow._

_"Why...why...?" She looked up at the massive sun dragon. "He didn't do anythin' wrong! He saved me... He saved a dragon! He only used dark magic once, just a single bug. He learned how to do primal magic, he would never use dark magic again! WHY!? You killed the dragon prince...you killed Callum...you killed everythin' I had left. Why..."_

_"Humans are lesser beings. He would have betrayed you, and used you both for dark magic. It is their nature to betray, to destroy."_

_"You killed your own prince! You killed him because you couldn't show mercy once! You...monster!"_

_Sol Regem did not respond. He faded away, turning to dust. Rayla was left only with her grief, in the sun-scorched valley devoid of any life._

It didn't happen. But it could have. Everything could have been lost because Sol Regem couldn't lose his hatred of humans, not for one second. _And if I didn't lose mine, Ezran could be dead too._

The last two months were indescribable. Before, she wouldn't have been able to stomach even the idea of being friends with a human. But now, as she watched Callum sleep, she couldn't imagine being without him. _I nearly cut his throat._ It was amusing at first, in a cosmic sort of way. But now, it horrified her.

Everything had been so clear-cut when she was younger. Humans were evil; they killed innocent magical creatures without remorse, so they could make themselves more powerful. They would never stop at bugs; dragons and elves alike would be used to fuel their dark magic. There was no choice but to expel them from Xadia. _To lands with barely any magic, where their people would starve because of famine, like they did when Callum and Ezran's dad was king_.

The humans would invade Xadia without provocation; elves and dragons just wanted to live in peace. _But were all of them invaders?_ _Were Callum's parents invading when they killed the Magma Titan? Were they invading while they were fleeing across the border, having no intent of doing anything else?_

Avizandum killed Callum's mother, and Aanya's mothers too. _Were they evil, because they intended to use dark magic to stop a famine from killing so many of their people?_ She had the feeling many elves would say yes. Runaan especially.

But he had always said that Moonshadow assassins didn't take death lightly. It was okay to kill, if it was necessary. Was it not like that for the human monarchs? For Callum, when he squashed a bug to save her and the dragon? The same dragon that had been torching a human town.

And she had been furious with him. Furious at him for using dark magic, for risking his life. _I was stupid._ How was it any different from what Runaan and the assassins did? _Maybe it was better._

Killing King Harrow solved nothing. Avizandum was still dead. The Dragon Queen was still in a coma. Killing Ezran would have been worse. A ten-year old boy murdered, even though the egg was still intact. _There would never have been peace_. Viren would have rallied all the human kingdoms against Xadia. He would have used the egg and Aaravos' power to destroy everthing.

Even when he saw the dragon prince was alive, Runaan wouldn't call off the assassination. He would've killed a little boy. Her foster father would have done that. She didn't know how to feel.

 _Are we any better than them? Were we ever better than humans? Aaravos was an elf, and he practically invented dark magic. If we were the ones who didn't have a connections to the primal sources, would we have also turned to dark magic, like the humans did?_ Rayla didn't like the answer she came up with.

 _We're just as guilty as them._ A choked sob erupted from her mouth, and she violently wiped away the tears forming in her eyes. She tried suppressing her crying, but it was no use.

Callum stirred in his bed. As soon as he saw her, he practically jumped to her side, and enveloped her in a hug. Rayla melted into it, sobbing into his shoulder. "Viren again?" he asked, rubbing circles on her back.

"No," she croaked. "Callum, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for everythin' that happened." She pulled her head away from his shoulder, blinking away tears so she could see him proper. He looked completely confused, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips stretched into a slight frown.

"Rayla, what are you talking about? There's nothing you need to apologize for."

"There is! I'm...I don't know how to say it. I know what I want to apologize for, what I need to say sorry for, because no other elf will." She took a few deep breaths, collecting herself. "I'm sorry that I got mad at you for using dark magic to save me and Pyrrha. I'm sorry that Runaan killed your dad, and sorry that would've killed Ezran." Callum tried to interrupt her, but she place a finger on his lip to silence him. "I'm sorry that I almost killed the both of you. I'm sorry your mother died. I'm sorry that humans couldn't connect to the primal sources before you, and I'm sorry my people looked down on you for it."

He tried to speak again, but she didn't let him. Rayla caressed his face in both hands, staring into the emerald-green of his eyes. "I know what you're going to say. That I didn't kill you or Ezran. That I don't need to apologize for gettin' angry with you. And that I don't need to say sorry for things I didn't do. But I do. If I don't...I don't know who will. My people have done bad things, Callum. For a while, I didn't think they were bad, because humans did the same or worse. But if we elves were in your place...I don't know that we'd been any different. I'm just...sorry. I know I can't apologize for every elf. I'm just so sorry."

She started sobbing again, and Callum pulled her into his arms. Rayla clutched onto him tightly, so tight she thought she heard the fabric of his pajama shirt rip. "It's okay," he murmured. He started rubbing her back again, and laid a kiss on the top of her head.

"I know your aunt might get mad, but..." Rayla sniffled, and wiped at her eyes with her sleeve. "Could you just stay with me? For tonight?"

He smiled at her, that sweet smile that let her know everything was going to be okay. "Of course. Aunt Amaya could never stay mad at me for long anyway." They laid down together in her bed. Since her horns were liable to poke him in the face if she stirred too much, Rayla held onto his waist from behind, and shoved her face into the back of his neck. Callum rubbed her hand, and she drifted off to sleep, this time dreaming of the meadow near the Silvergrove.

Callum had his adoraburr afro, while Zym happily galloped around through the grass, stacking the tiny creatures on his head. Rayla sat upon a big tree branch, laughing as she watched the two fool around. She dreamed that pleasant dream the rest of the night.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is something I thought up yesterday. As an American, I've reflected heavily these past few months on our own history. How we've brushed aside our own flaws, our own sins, by pointing at others and saying "Well, at least we aren't like that." And now look at us. For decades, we've done this. Criticize other countries for their shortcomings, while ignoring our own. Supposedly we won the Cold War, the real life one, between the US and the USSR instead of between humans and elves. It doesn't feel like we won. In beating our 'greatest enemy', we've become no better than them.
> 
> I see Canadians, the British, and Australians pointing at us the same way we pointed at China, North Korea, and the Soviet Union. "At least we aren't like that." Don't. Don't do it, I'm begging you. Don't point at our flooded basement while your own fills up with water. Don't make the same mistakes we did.


End file.
